Tony knew that his friends would never let him live it down if he told them, so he kept the sunset flight with Clare to himself, simply picking her up from class and driving her out to the airport in his pride and joy, his Audi R8 Spyder. Clare had, thankfully, left her helmet at home, and Tony manfully didn't comment on either her dress or her hair. This wasn't a date, they were just friends. Because he totally took all his friends flying.
After helping her get seated in his re-purposed Northrop F-5, he hopped into the cockpit and got settled, strapping in and toggling all the switches he'd need to turn his baby on. They taxi'd out on the runway, waiting until he got the thumbs-up from the crew on the ground before slamming on the accelerator, whooping when they took off into the air. There was nothing better than flying, in his opinion, not even sex. Well, most sex. It could get pretty routine. But flying never, ever got boring.
They swooped around the river for a while, going out for a quick jaunt over the ocean - he even managed to convince her that it'd be totally awesome if he did a barrel roll - before heading back to the city just in time to watch the sun sink down below the skyscrapers, glinting off the windows of almost every single building with a retina-searing brightness, the clouds limned with gold.
Once the sun had set completely, the stars struggling to make themselves seen through the fog of light pollution over the city, he forced himself to touch back down, taxiing back towards his hangar bay.
He hopped out of the cockpit and offered Clare his hand, grinning broadly. "So?"
After helping her get seated in his re-purposed Northrop F-5, he hopped into the cockpit and got settled, strapping in and toggling all the switches he'd need to turn his baby on. They taxi'd out on the runway, waiting until he got the thumbs-up from the crew on the ground before slamming on the accelerator, whooping when they took off into the air. There was nothing better than flying, in his opinion, not even sex. Well, most sex. It could get pretty routine. But flying never, ever got boring.
They swooped around the river for a while, going out for a quick jaunt over the ocean - he even managed to convince her that it'd be totally awesome if he did a barrel roll - before heading back to the city just in time to watch the sun sink down below the skyscrapers, glinting off the windows of almost every single building with a retina-searing brightness, the clouds limned with gold.
Once the sun had set completely, the stars struggling to make themselves seen through the fog of light pollution over the city, he forced himself to touch back down, taxiing back towards his hangar bay.
He hopped out of the cockpit and offered Clare his hand, grinning broadly. "So?"